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I rarely review albums released in 2016 as they are simply not new enough but seeing as Winter Deluge’s sophomore album Devolution – Decay came out early November I am making an exception. Formed in 2005 as Desecrate this black metal act from New Zealand have started getting a following in the underground scene so I was interested to hear what they are all about.

The raw sound Winter Deluge oozes out screams second wave black metal with a touch of death. Think Immortal having a bastard with Archgoat and they spawned the great Winter. Devolution – Decay got a great flow to it and the songs transition well into the next. The crushing riffs, harsh growling and pummeling drums is something any black metal lover can appreciate and will be sure to get their fill with this album. How Winter Deluge creates the perfect passages between the tracks is what I love the most with the album, it’s so fluent and makes the whole experience that much better. It also leaves me in a bit of a peril, which song do I like the most? With each listen it changes but that just means Winter Deluge has done a great job with Devolution – Decay as it’s an black metal album I am glad I received although almost a year too late. Definitely one of the better albums I missed from 2016 and now you, as well as I, have a chance to get to know these black hearts from New Zealand.

There’s been a lot of black metal from me lately but I just am in that mood right now so why stop now? My black metal journey this past week has taken me from Portugal (Viles Vitae), Finland (Author), Brazil (Carpatus) and now to Ukraine with the band Hellfire. Hellfire was formed in 2014 by former members of Paranomia and quickly became a band of four but eventually went down to three members, Necrobaphomet on bass, Skullcrusher on drums and Karagh on guitars and vocal duty. Since then the band has kept working as a trio and had several live performances in Ukraine with good response. Goat Revenge is the bands debut EP.

Hellfire got a cool sound going with a varied mix of influences. The bands agenda was to create 100% pure metal based on black metal, inspired by old-school thrash and death metal. A feat they’ve done well I’ve got to say. It features the aggression and song-writing from the first wave of black metal, speed and grove from trash, then adding the melodic riffs from death to create this unholy beast. The songs are fast and furious, with the eight tracked album going full speed ahead during it’s 24 minutes. In a way I think the album is over too fast, that’s however a plus from Hellfire in a way since it means the music was good and it is an EP after all.

I had a good time with Goat Revenge. It was a bit different than the black metal I usually listens to and flirts with many old school acts. Hellfire’s debut EP Goat Revenge is out now through Witches Brew.